Bath to Gloucester

The panniers are packed, the electric bikes are out and we are off on a journey. The first leg was from Bath to Gloucester and the sun was out.

It was Easter Sunday so the steam train at Bitton was getting ready for an outing.

Unusually for a bank holiday the sun was out, although it compensated with a cold wind that kept our coats on all day.

The shops were all shut too, but we found a little corner shop in a lovely village and sat on a sunny bench for a lunch of coconut macaroons.

Almost the whole journey was on cycle paths and quiet country lanes with beautiful scenery.

The best photo of the day competition was won by Daz with this shot of his bike resting on the Splatt Swing Bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

We were surprised to find such a huge canal so close to the Severn Estuary, so I looked it up and found out that the canal was opened in 1827.

It was one of the widest and deepest canals in the world, was 17 miles long and provided the very important docks at Gloucester with a safe passage to the Estuary, that avoided the dangerous tides and rapids in the river Severn.

Cinque Terre

 Our last day in Italy and what should we do? We had seen all that we wanted to in Pisa and were checking online for ideas.

Daz realised that the Cinque Terre was in reach on an InterCity train, so off we went.

The Cinque Terre are five villages clinging on to the cliffs, and are world famous for their beautiful coloured houses and spectacular setting.

 We got off the train at Monterosso and wandered around. There is a cliff path to the next village, but it was closed due to a landslide, so instead we caught the local train through a tunnel.

We arrived at Corniglia and had to climb hundreds of steps up to the village.

Then we set off across the cliffs to the next village.

Then at the highest point a beautiful mirage appeared.

It wasn't a cheap mirage, and the only food they served was oranges that they probably picked from a nearby tree, but what a view. Great music too.

Feeling refreshed, we set off down to Vernazza. Probably the most beautiful of all the villages.

Back on the train through another tunnel to Riomaggiore. Their path is called the Via dell'amore. It is almost flat, although there are quite a lot of steps up to the start of it.

The path was closed for 20 years and only reopened in 2024. It obviously took a huge amount of building to create the path and in places it is dug out of the rocks.

It is supposed to be about one kilometre long and go round to the fifth village, but it wasn't possible to get through because of a rockfall.

So we went back to look around the village and then back to the station.

Darren was keen to get the train through the tunnel to the fifth village, but I was so tired that instead we whizzed back to the hotel on the fast train.

Pisa

We caught a bus from Lucca, and 30 minutes later we were outside our hotel in Pisa. According to the hotel brochure it was located 40 seconds walk from the main sights.

They weren't wrong, and the place was packed with tourists taking photos of themselves either holding up the tower or putting their finger on the top of it.

We were a bit too cool for that, and anyway did it last time we were here, so just enjoyed watching others do it.

We had been told by lots of people that the tower is the only thing to see in Pisa but that really isn't true.

We paid to go into a brilliant vaulted building and then up on to the town walls.

They were very impressive, 11 meters tall and 3 kilometres long and surrounding most of the town.

We walked to the end of them by the river Arno and then back through the pretty town.

We stopped for cappuccinos at a tiny café with a very friendly waitress, who when we went inside to pay, gave us and a couple of other customers shots of chocolate liquor and we all downed them in one.

Exploring Lucca

Lucca is a beautiful city that was founded by the Etruscans, became a Roman colony in 180 BC, and is famed by most people for it's fully intact 16th - 17th century Renaissance walls.

Not apparently by us though as we appear to not have taken any photos of them, and this picture of a road on the top is all that I have 

I did like the very narrow streets inside the walls though, and took lots of photos of the surprising views around each corner.

It was the warmest day or our trip so far, and the first time that I sat outside in a tee shirt to soak up the sun.

After wandering around the town, we exited the wall by a secret - ish tunnel, and went to see the Nottolini aquaduct that dates from 1823. It has an incredible 460 arches.

I had hoped that we would be able to walk along the top enjoying panoramic views, but it was actually quite narrow and probably much safer to stay down at ground level.

In the evening we went to yet another cultural event - a Puccini and Mozart concert in a beautiful church.

This morning we got a real chance to appreciate and sort of enjoy the city walls, as we ran the parkrun around the whole loop.

Both pleased with our times too.

Florence to Lucca

A bit of a cultural day today, plus a train ride from Florence to Lucca in the middle.

No, that's not how we felt, it was the artwork of Clet Abraham who is based in Florence and who amongst other things, improves roadsigns.

Susan told us about him, and it took us a while to get our eye in to find them, but then there was loads all around the city.

Once we got to Lucca we found out that the composer Puccini was born there, and there is a superb statue of him just in front of his own museum.

Then we paid to go in to see a special collection of art by Giovanni Boldini.

We had never heard of him before, but his paintings were beautiful.

He was born in Italy and painted portraits of many high society ladies. He then moved to Paris, became close friends with Degas and was a link between traditional portraiture and the new expressionistic style, according to the audio guide.

Exploring Florence

We arrived yesterday afternoon, and didn't do much except have a quick look around and get some dinner.

This morning we decided to see the main sights of the city, and we were surprised that it was much more compact than we expected.

Almost the first thing that we saw was the replica David statue by Michaelangelo. The original is in a nearby museum, but this copy looked superb in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

The building was in shade this morning so we retraced our steps later to get it in it's full glory.

Then it was on past the Ponte Vecchio bridge over the River Arno.

Once across the river we climbed up many steps to the Piazzale Michaelangelo which had fantastic views over the city.

That's a panoramic view, but probably a bit small so here are a couple of standard shots.

The gigantic Duomo dominates the skyline and is one of the largest churches in the world.

Up close it is amazing and the sun was just at the right angle to see it at it's best.